A congratulatory video, dedicated to the unsung, unseen campaign workers in Kuala Terengganu by MediaRakyat.

THANK YOU to all our new friends in KT: You have opened your homes and your hearts to us, warming us with your kindness, encouragement and hospitality. We thank you for your prayers and salute you for your courage!

JAN 17 — It was a horrible blow for Datuk Seri Najib Razak. The prime minister-in-waiting has now lost two by-elections in less than five months.

Both the by-election results saw higher majority votes for the federal opposition.

Najib did his best for his beloved Barisan Nasional in the Kuala Terengganu parliamentary by-election. Yet the voters in the BN stronghold decided to vote for Umno’s arch enemy Pas.

He made many promises, granted many projects and offered a lot of goodies, and yet the voters rejected BN.

Is this a bad omen or merely another “minor” setback for the deputy prime minister who has a tough task ahead of him to take over from Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi this March?

Throughout the 11-day campaign period, Najib had worked diligently to ensure victory for BN candidate Datuk Wan Ahmad Farid Salleh. According to journalists covering the by-election, he was one of the hardest working campaigners for the federal ruling coalition.

If it was not his fault, would BN leaders blame the voters? It may not be a smart idea to do so. After all, Terengganu voters were among those who helped BN increased its votes in the state when the political tsunami hit the country on March 8 last year.

What does the result mean for Umno and BN?

Besides the expected morose look on the faces of BN leaders tomorrow, the coalition’s backbone Umno will also face yet another question on its actual strength to bring the Malays back to its fold.

This dreaded question — is Umno still relevant — will continue to haunt its leaders. Since Abdullah is set to leave the political arena, Najib has to inherit all the misgivings and wrong perception brought about by his soon-to-be predecessor.

If Umno persists in blaming others in its post-mortem of the by-election, it would simply mean it does not want to address the root cause of the problem; and would further damage the image of the party.

Worse still, Umno will continue to lose its battle against perception of elitism, ignoring the people and too concerned with its own personal interests.

Yet in a more negative way, it can also push certain party leaders — particularly those entering the race for party posts in March — to be more insular and parochial in their racial approach to win the hearts and minds of their own supporters.

This could mean a more divided Malaysia. Unless the Pakatan Rakyat is willing to step in to provide a real alternative.

Pas candidate Mohd Abdul Wahid Endut’s victory was a second coming for Pakatan; the much-need shot in the arm for the loose coalition, after Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s official political comeback five months ago when he regained his Permatang Pauh parliamentary seat.

Pas’s victory will also wipe away any possibility of the party trying to be friendly with Umno, despite the efforts by some of its top leaders almost a year ago. This will bring the party a new sense of confidence.

Other Pakatan partners — Parti Keadilan Rakyat and DAP — are already jumping for joy. Not only are they celebrating their partner’s victory, this is also the time for them to regroup for the next general election.

While the post-mortem on both sides will reveal the actual turn of events and provide more details, it can be safely deduced that most Chinese voters opted for Pas while there was a swing among Malay voters for Pas.

It was the Malay votes that had got Umno so worried and the damage had been done in Kuala Terengganu. Just like a football game, losing on your home turf will certainly have a deep psychological impact.

Today I want to publish a letter from Shah Alam MP, Khalid Abdul Samad of PAS, and expose the conspiracy by UMNO to create tension in the multiracial Malaysia for its own political objective.

In his letter (abdulsamad-section19-temple.pdf), YB Khald Samad describes an incident that he had to respond to in his constituency. In brief, there was a group of troublemakers from Malacca who were planning to build a field to practise Silat (without permit) right besides a Hindu temple in Section 19 Shah Alam. (Yes, you can almost say that “UMNO Malacca is busy to destabilise Selangor PR state government”, rather than focusing on Malacca’s state development.) The letter carries some interactions between the MP and the leader of the troublemakers; those are interesting reads.

I commend the sensibility and fairness demonstrated by YB Khalid Samad. Residents of Shah Alam are fortunate to have elected such a representative. And to many Chinese Malaysians, who have for years misled by BN propaganda machinery and the mainstream media, this MP is the voice of conscience of PAS.

Let me highlight some of the interesting parts of the letter below. (Highlights are mine.)

Translation: PR state government’s policy is simple. First, old temples need to relocate to more appropriate locations. Relocation sites must be identified by PBT and the sites agreed by the temple visitors. PBT must take into consideration inconveniences that the temple visitors will face as a result of the relocation. At the same time, new temple construction, except for the relocation, must be stopped.

Translation: … I was tipped off by a Section 19 Malay resident that a group of Malays have come to create tension at the temple… most of them are outsiders… They … will have a function … For the function they will slaughter two cows (which are sacred to Hindus)! … The leader of the group comes from Malacca! He said he ‘represents the people’ and they were forced to take the action through an NGO called ‘PEWARIS’.. Clearly, the silat practising ground is only an excuse. They actually wanted to provoke the temple’s management.

Translation: … he challenged me … “you are a Malay and Muslim, why are you so busy with defending the temple?” Saya responded, “because Islam teaches me to be fair to all. They, though not Muslim, have rights and Islam teaches us to respect their rights.” He was silent. Then he said he was not sure on religious matters.

This is the voice of conscience by educated Muslim leaders of PAS. This will definitely not come from most UMNO leaders, who although are Muslim do not practise what the religion teaches them.

Translation: He appeared lost for words and I told him that I knew Pewaris and Pekida are two sister NGOs. The patron of Pekida is the prime minister and therefore the same for Pewaris. Both NGOs are controlled by UMNO members. I also knew that their action at that time was related to the by-election of Kuala Terengganu. They intended to create tension and racial issue so that they could make claim to the country that PR has failed to resolve the problem in Selangor; and Selangor now has racial problem. He was quiet and later commented me for making the assumptions, but he did not renied them.

Translation: I was informed that the ground was not constructed, but they intend to proceed with the function. They said they would invite me again. I responded that according to the law, if the construction of the ground is approved by MBSA, I would attend. If not, the Palestine Peace programme at Melawati Stadium on 10th Jan at 10am is a better place for me to attend, likewise for him.

Translation: IMPORTANT NOTE: Please disseminate this matter because provocation of this manner is expected to be abound with the upcoming Kuala Terengganu by-election. We should be vigilant. We should not be exploited!

What we can conclude from this incident and the pattern that we can derive from the recent incidents (or even those of years ago!) is that, it completely goes counter to the popular belief that a BN government is for stability of Malaysia. It is now clear that BN, with UMNO goons around, is the most destabilising factor to Malaysia now. With their resources, many of which are gained through dubious tactics and corrupt practices from 51 years of power, and their organisation, filled with goons like those involved in the incident at Section 19, BN is in the best position to manipulate the political situation. Malaysians certainly need to open up their eyes to a powerful machinery for racial and religious tensions in Malaysia. (by Guansin, Airkosong.com)

It’s been a while since I connected to the hive (no internet, no phones = bliss), hence the belated New Year greetings.

My break is coming to a rapid end. Found a great 2nd hand bookshop on the island with some amazing tomes including Colette’s collected works and a biography which I am reading on Gertrude Bell by Janet Wallach. Too apt, considering what is going on in Iraq and the current invasion of Gaza.

May this new year bring us closer to peace of mind and peace on earth. And may common sense prevail in these trying times.